Crysis 2 Update 1.9 Changelog
Added Contact Shadows
Added DX11 benchmark level
Added DX11 support for Crysis 2
Tessellation + Displacement Mapping
High Quality HDR Motion Blur
Realistic Shadows with Variable Penumbra
Sprite Based Bokeh Depth of Field
Parallax Occlusion Mapping
Particles Motion Blur, Shadows and Art Updates
Water Rendering improvements and using Tessellation + Displacement Mapping
Added Realtime Local Reflections
Added support for Higher Res Textures Package
Added various new console variables to whitelist
Fixed bullet penetration, which had been broken by a bug introduced with the DLC 2 patch
Fixed issue in MP where player stats weren't always saved at the end of a game
Fixed issue in MP where player stats would sometimes randomly reset
Fixed issue with MP time played statistic, which would sometimes be too low on leaderboards and in stats
Fixed issue with JAW rocket not firing through window's containing broken glass
Fixed rare issue where a user could not access MP with a valid CD key if they had previously used an invalid CD key
Improved advanced graphics options menu
Improved anti-cheat measurements: fixed exploit which could prevent vote kicking working against a user
Improved multi-GPU support
Improved Tone Mapping
Re-added possibility to enable r_StereoSupportAMD via config file (unsupported)

Originally Posted by faceplantseriously why do people ask ' why wasn't it in the original release?'

Are you dumb or just plain stupid?

The game was in development before DX11 was released, geez.

Many games have finished before DX11 came out, and they still managed to get the features in there in patches before now. Crytek had plenty of time to get DX11 in before release, but they didn't care about the PC release so focused on finishing it and shipping it first.

And while the graphics do look better, I can't help but feel that everything bar tesselation is only going to make C2 look more like C1, rather than actually blow us away.

Is that a yes or no? Some games will use as many DX10 feature that a DX10 card can support if you load up the DX11 exe, others say you don't have compatible hardware.

Would have thought that as the original crysis was DX10, it should be in there somewhere.

Essentially there will be a DX9 and DX11 version of the game. There are improvements to both versions with this patch, so with a DX9/10 card you get real time local reflections and provided you have a 64 bit OS you also get high res textures. So, the game gets improved visuals for you but in answer to your question there does not appear to be a DX10 version so you won't get DX10 specific improvements

Seriously? Do you think developers only get access to new DX versions the moment the public do?

Exactly, I'd fully expect a bigshot dev like Crytek to have access to the SDK before we ever see it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skiddywinks

Many games have finished before DX11 came out, and they still managed to get the features in there in patches before now. Crytek had plenty of time to get DX11 in before release, but they didn't care about the PC release...

That's what it looks like, simply finishing it and releasing for console was priority, since they knew PC gamers would just eat it up anyway, DX11 or not.

Either way I think the totally failed on this one, and what breaks my heart is despite the poor reviews (for PC anyway) the sales don't reflect it. They sold out, caught consolitis and activated maximum profit, so you can bet Crysis 3 will be the same story.

Seriously? Do you think developers only get access to new DX versions the moment the public do?

Exactly, I'd fully expect a bigshot dev like Crytek to have access to the SDK before we ever see it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skiddywinks

Many games have finished before DX11 came out, and they still managed to get the features in there in patches before now. Crytek had plenty of time to get DX11 in before release, but they didn't care about the PC release...

That's what it looks like, simply finishing it and releasing for console was priority, since they knew PC gamers would just eat it up anyway, DX11 or not.

Either way I think the totally failed on this one, and what breaks my heart is despite the poor reviews (for PC anyway) the sales don't reflect it. They sold out, caught consolitis and activated maximum profit, so you can bet Crysis 3 will be the same story.

It's a good game, not great maybe, but good and lots of fun

The graphics were amazing on release, specifically some of the effects.

Despite a community that is abusive and generally illiterate (just check their forums) they have supported the game with numerous patches and now bring us a real treat.

Crysis 2 on release was guilty of nothing more than failing to push the graphical bar as far as the original game (which had its flaws). You would think they had taken a dump through peoples letter boxes the amount of vitriol it has generated.

"
Despite a community that is abusive and generally illiterate (just check their forums) they have supported the game with numerous patches and now bring us a real treat." - LOL. I would tend to agree. We exist in a world of complainers. I have complained about crysis 2 myself but only because they failed to make it work in SLI and when they released the demo it had auto aim enabled on PC version which just goes to show how much of a console port it was. Nevertheless, even in DX9 the graphics are impressive.

It was an alright game. It wasn't good, it was satisfactory. It was CoD but with the power suit. I did finish the game, which is actually saying something, but I don't have any vivid memories of any awesome parts, nor do I ever think I will play it ever again. I suppose it was fun, but it was a very basic kind of fun. Just never really though "OH SNAP" while playing it.

Quote:

The graphics were amazing on release, specifically some of the effects.

Some of the effects were very good, agreed, but please don't ever say the graphics are amazing. They halved some C1 textures, and pasted them in to C2. They also made many of the interactable (as in explosions and bullets hitting them etc) objects in C1 totally static in C2.

The only reason people were blown away by the graphics was because it came out on consoles, where, to be fair, it does look damn awesome compared to the competition. At the end of the day though, I think what they added is quite nicely overshadowed by what they took out. There is no way the game looks amazing.

I don't tend to go on game forums because I find they are all the same (basically all of them are like the one you describe), and while I do find that a lot of people seriously over reacted to the disappointment of C2, a lot of it is also fully justified. Even if they had said that they really don't care about PC from the beginning, at least no one would have had any false impressions. But the fact is Crytek constantly reassured the PC fans that it was going to be amazing, and would be the best game they ever released on PC. Which was utter bullshit. I think that caused a lot of the anger, but the criticisms would have still been there regardles.

So I am sorry, but it was guilty of a lot more than not raising the bar. It is guilty of lowering it, severly in some cases, and I'm not just talking graphics here. The PC version was a mess. FOV, "Push Start". It happens a lot in all games on PC, it's just how it is. But the fact that Crytek were held up as a beacon of PC gaming really stung a lot of people when we realised it really is just a console port. Hell, if the FOV was right from the start, and for the PC version they didn't bother halving the textures, it would have gone a long way to improving people's opinions.

I mean, think about it, they consciously, explicitly decided to half the old PC textures for use on the consoles. Fine, makes sense. I would have done the same. The more people playing Crysis the better, as it means I get more games, and I know concessions have to be made to get it on the consoles. No butthurt whatsoever. But to then use the same textures on the PC version makes no sense. Surely it wuld have even been easier for them to put the old textures in, just a straight swap. Hardware is vastly improved nowadays, I'm sure people could take it. But no, it's laziness, because the only reason they wouldn't do that is because that would require treating the PC version seperately.

Obviously though, this only came to light some time after release. But when you load up the demo and it says "Press Start", you know they ported it before you even play. Crytek, doing a console to PC port. It felt like being stabbed in the back. WTF was that ****. Those two words weren't the problem, it's what they meant that was the problem.

It was an alright game. It wasn't good, it was satisfactory. It was CoD but with the power suit. I did finish the game, which is actually saying something, but I don't have any vivid memories of any awesome parts, nor do I ever think I will play it ever again. I suppose it was fun, but it was a very basic kind of fun. Just never really though "OH SNAP" while playing it.

It seems like almost anything that can be considered an FPS can be considered "CoD but with...[place semi-interesting game mechanic here]". Crysis 2? CoD, but with a power suit. Red Dead Redemption? CoD, but with horses and bandits. Vanquish? CoD, but in space without multiplayer. Left4Dead? CoD with zombies.

Let's face it. it's really, really not CoD with whatever. It's just that--rather unfortunately--the FPS market is so friggin saturated these days that it's very, VERY difficult to release ANYTHING that's not just another clone-with-an-interesting-feature. L4D was one of the last FPSes to bring anything really unique to the table in a loooooooong time. Even BF3 isn't going to be particularly original--don't get me wrong, it's gonna be effin brilliant, just not original.

You know, I was trying to think of a single game in the last 3 years that's actually left a lasting impression on me beyond the moment i played it. Oddly enough, the first thing that came to mind was the walker level in Gears of War 2. It was just SO big, and SO epic. I guess that means that if you're not going to change much from the first in a series, at least make what you do change friggin' GRANDIOSE.

agree gun.. it's the gameplay that's lacking not the graphics- why I couldn't really get the people who bagged on the original.. thought the physics were spot on- you actually felt like you were in the suit

It seems like almost anything that can be considered an FPS can be considered "CoD but with...[place semi-interesting game mechanic here]". Crysis 2? CoD, but with a power suit. Red Dead Redemption? CoD, but with horses and bandits. Vanquish? CoD, but in space without multiplayer. Left4Dead? CoD with zombies.

Let's face it. it's really, really not CoD with whatever. It's just that--rather unfortunately--the FPS market is so friggin saturated these days that it's very, VERY difficult to release ANYTHING that's not just another clone-with-an-interesting-feature. L4D was one of the last FPSes to bring anything really unique to the table in a loooooooong time. Even BF3 isn't going to be particularly original--don't get me wrong, it's gonna be effin brilliant, just not original.

You know, I was trying to think of a single game in the last 3 years that's actually left a lasting impression on me beyond the moment i played it. Oddly enough, the first thing that came to mind was the walker level in Gears of War 2. It was just SO big, and SO epic. I guess that means that if you're not going to change much from the first in a series, at least make what you do change friggin' GRANDIOSE.

I do agree that the FPS market is stupidly saturated nowadays, but I disagree entirely with what you said. C2 is CoD with the power suit because it controls, feels and plays a hell of a lot like CoD. RDR plays nothing at all like CoD does, I can't even believe you used that as an example. RDR is open world, third person, mission based and a hell of a lot more dynamic. CoD is one massive set piece, that has many scripted events to make you feel like you are actually in a war, whilst it shoves you down a very linear path. In fact, Vanquish and L4D are so different also, that I am wondering if you are just making a joke. You can't honestly believe that those three games are just CoD derivatives.

So, let's face it, it really is fair to say that C2 is CoD with the power suit. To be fair, the first Crysis was pretty much CoD with a power suit, only they implemented a lot of little things that made it feel spot on. Throwing a Korean in to the air, only to have him land on a shack, caving it it. Or driving a tank through such a shack. Like people have said, the feel of it was just right as well. Everything had the right weight and look when things got ****ed up.

With number 2, they removed a lot of what made it feel so right, and made it control a lot more like CoD so that the masses would eat it up. It is a lot more static, a lot more boring, and the linearity of the game is far more evident than in C1, just because you have these buildings all around you. C1 was quite linear, but was very open in about how you got there. Sure, in C2 you might have the ability to sneak past these guards and what not (which has to be pointed out to players now; that is the level the developers are catering to), but in C1 you had much more freedom. I wonder how much of the decision to move to the city was based on the consoles power...

It was an alright game. It wasn't good, it was satisfactory. It was CoD but with the power suit. I did finish the game, which is actually saying something, but I don't have any vivid memories of any awesome parts, nor do I ever think I will play it ever again. I suppose it was fun, but it was a very basic kind of fun. Just never really though "OH SNAP" while playing it.

It seems like almost anything that can be considered an FPS can be considered "CoD but with...[place semi-interesting game mechanic here]". Crysis 2? CoD, but with a power suit. Red Dead Redemption? CoD, but with horses and bandits. Vanquish? CoD, but in space without multiplayer. Left4Dead? CoD with zombies.

Let's face it. it's really, really not CoD with whatever.

Crysis 2 definitely has Unreal II's knack of referencing other games and films but I was thinking more about one of the really big Ceph villains which resembled Halo's blue Spiky sentries in behaviour and FEAR's large grunts with rocket launchers on one of their arms in looks. To be fair, I wanted to be able to play a videogame version of the film Cloverfield and C2 gets closest in letting me do that. So it's not all bad. Just happy I bought it again after selling it, the modders will make the SP worth a replay, and the original Crysis and Warhead are there to replay whilst waiting for that.